


Cool Under Heat

by nekojita



Category: All For The Game - Nora Sakavic
Genre: Allison has Neil's number, Alternate Universe - Magic, F/F, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, M/M, Magic-Users, Neil tries to do something nice for Andrew, Neil would do anything for Andrew, it's supposed to be sweet, set at TFC except they all have magic, that's okay Renee has hers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-04
Updated: 2017-08-04
Packaged: 2018-12-11 03:29:43
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,996
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11705895
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/nekojita/pseuds/nekojita
Summary: In a world where magic talent isn't uncommon, it's a commodity with a price to be bartered about when in need. Right now, Neil Josten is that person in need - not for himself, but for someone else, for someone he's actually allowed himself to feel about in spite of everything.





	Cool Under Heat

**Author's Note:**

  * For [fcxholes](https://archiveofourown.org/gifts?recipient=fcxholes).



> All right, this is my fic for the AFTG Exchange's summer round (I feel like I'm stretching here, but I tried!), a magic AU. I spent way too much time thinking up backgrounds for this whole world, but here it is.
> 
> Warning label is basically for a couple of references for Neil's childhood/scars.  
> *******

*******

Neil held his breath as the magic grew inside of him, as it multiplied like ice crystals, the delicate tendrils forming and spreading through his body until every bit of him was possessed with the cold burn of power, with the raw energy that always seethed inside of his core. Part of him wanted to hold onto it a little longer, to let it continue to build until he was nothing but ice and magic, to let it take over, but his mother’s voice rattled inside of his head as phantom nails raked along his scalp and made him let go of the spell before things went too far.

It left behind such an ache, a feeling of emptiness and regret – and all for nothing. Neil opened his eyes to look at the thermometer on the desk in front of him and found it unchanged.

So much for _that_ attempt.

PSU provided ‘free’ room and board for its scholarship athletes, and for the most part Neil found little to complain about his home at the university. For once in his life he had a secure roof over his head, had access to an adequate supply of decent food at the café and he was playing a sport he loved. The Fox Tower was located near both his classes and the Exy stadium, had spacious rooms compared to some of the other dormitories, and he only had to share the suite with Kevin and Andrew. The one thing it did lack, however, was proper insulation.

In other words, it wasn’t very warm during the two months of the year when South Carolina actually got cold, and this year? It had gotten very, _very_ cold.

The chill which clung to the concrete walls and crept through the cracks in the windowsills didn’t bother Kevin too much, who had grown up in Ireland and West Virginia, who could draw energy from the earth to help keep him warm. It definitely didn’t bother Neil, an ‘ice’ elemental, a witch with the ability to ‘eat’ away at the energy associated with heat and convert water into ice, among other things, able to not only bear the cold but to enjoy it.

No, it was their third roommate and Neil’s lover who didn’t fare so well that winter – Andrew. It was somewhat amusing since everyone assumed _Andrew_ was the ice elemental, not Neil with his red hair and short temper, but like much to do with magic, nothing was ever as it appeared. Andrew’s ill wight nature didn’t do him much good when it came to the cold, and growing up in the warmth of southern California meant that he had no tolerance for anything below 70 degrees Fahrenheit.

Hence the reason why Neil had spent too much time and effort and magic trying to cast something to warm up the shared bedroom when he should be working on a history essay, but there came a time when even he had to admit defeat (it was more that Kevin was going to refuse him participation in the night-time practices if his grade in the class dropped any lower, but Neil allowed himself the illusion that he was being sensible of all things for once). Rubbing his hand over the empty ache in his chest, he sighed as he got up to leave the room, well aware that Andrew only had another forty-five minutes at his profiling class.

He went out into the hallway and two doors down, where he held his right hand above the door to room 325 for a few seconds as a polite gesture before he knocked twice; the knocking was more of a tradition than anything, since the wards on the door would have alerted the occupants of the suite to his presence already.

He’d just finished knocking when the door opened to reveal Renee with a pleased smile on her broad, lovely face and her pastel-tipped white hair pulled back in a bun. “I just put some muffins in the oven so you’re a bit early. There’s some blueberry ones for you.”

“That sounds good, but I’m actually here for Allison,” Neil told the blood witch; it had taken a while for him to become comfortable in Renee’s presence considering her talent and how alike they were with their pasts, but he could now manage to smile back at her and enter the suite she shared with Allison and Dan without any trepidation.

“Oh?” It was clear that Renee was curious, but she was willing to wait to see if Neil allowed her in on things or not. “Let me-“

“Don’t worry, I’m here.” Allison sauntered out of the bedroom as if a queen deigning to grace the common people with her presence, head held high and expression haughty. Yet Neil could catch an amused gleam in her blue eyes and a quirk to her glossy lips and didn’t take it personally. “What do you want, trouble?”

“I need some help,” he told her, knowing that Allison much preferred it when people cut to the chase when asking favors.

“Oh-ho? Really? What type of help?” Allison continued walking toward the door until she could wrap a bare arm around Renee’s waist. “You ready to move on from the Monster, finally?”

“Allison,” Renee chided her girlfriend even as she leaned against her.

“No, and stop calling him that.” Neil did his best not to snap at the dealer since he needed Allison’s help. “I’ll trade you something if you cast a heat spell for me.” He motioned to how Allison, a fire elemental, was dressed at the moment in revealing cut-off shorts and a crop tank-top, then the suite which was nice and warm. “You don’t have to do all of our rooms, just the bedroom.” Just enough so Andrew was warm when he went to bed, so he could sleep and study in peace.

“You want me to do that for the- for Andrew,” Allison guessed as she narrowed her eyes, while Neil gazed back without expression and waited for her to either turn him down or to ask for something outrageous because it was for Andrew. “Hmm.” Allison cocked her head to the side while she looked him up and down. “I’ll do it, but…” she drawled while Neil braced himself for the price, “you have to let me take you shopping and accept what I buy you.”

“ _What_?” Neil started to shake his head at that then reminded himself it was for Andrew and looked at Renee instead. “Uhm….”

His friend took pity on him. “Nothing too outrageous, Ally,” she told her girlfriend.

Allison appeared shocked by the faint reprimand, but everyone in the room knew that she was a wonderful actress. “Really?” When Neil narrowed his eyes at her, she scoffed. “Fine, nothing _too_ outrageous, but I’m going to make sure you have something other than a bunch of oversized rags to wear, Josten, just you wait and see. Deal?” She held out her right hand for him to shake.

“Deal.” There was a flare of magic, the tang of snow-laden wind and sun-heated sand, once their palms touched, and the agreement was sealed. “Ah, there’s not much time until he comes back from class,” Neil said as he stepped back.

“That’s fine, this won’t take long.” Allison gave Renee a kiss on the forehead before she stepped away, too. “I’ll be back before the muffins are done.” She’d need them after casting the spell.

“All right.” Renee waved them off as they left the room; once out in the hall, Allison ignored the barely masked leers that Jack and Davis gave her on the way back to Neil’s suite – at least until there was a muttered ‘Butcher’, and then the two yelped as sparks filled the hallway.

“Oops,” Allison said in a too-sweet tone of voice while Neil didn’t react at all, just like he didn’t react to Jack’s usual taunts about his father or the numerous scars he bore. 

“I am duly impressed by your maturity,” Neil remarked in a bland tone once they were in the suite. “And that you haven’t set off the fire alarms yet.”

“Live and learn, trouble,” she told him with a wicked grin. “I bet if we get you a pair of hot pants and a bit of eyeliner, you could get away with a lot, too.” She laughed when he backed away in horror at the suggestion. “Aw, I won’t do that to you.” The smile grew even wickeder. “ _This_ time.”

Neil spent a moment or two debating just how much it was worth, that heat spell, then remembered how Andrew had spent last two nights huddled on the bed wrapped up in all of the blankets, his face drawn in misery and unwilling to be touched, even in an attempt for Neil to share his own body heat, and sighed. “Just cast the damn spell.”

The smile slipped from Allison’s perfectly made up face. “You have it bad for him, don’t you?” she asked without any derision. When all Neil did was nod, she gave a slight shake of her head before she reached out to tap him on the tip of his nose. “Well, you better appreciate my efforts because I know he won’t. Come on, let’s go.” Before he could say anything, she headed for the bedroom.

Neil stood in the doorway while Allison wandered around the room for a couple of minutes touching this and that, the bunkbeds and the dressers, the walls and the windows, so on and so forth; she wasn’t being nosy but getting a feel for things, and when she was done she went to stand in the center of the room with her hands held up and her eyes closed. He could feel it when her magic flowed outward, a wall of heat that encompassed the whole room, that pushed against his own magic and rubbed against his wards in an unpleasant manner for a moment until they recognized it as ‘friendly’… and then it ‘settled’.

“Okay, it’s done,” Allison proclaimed as she dusted her hands together, the bright orange of her manicured nails flashing in the light of the room for a moment. “So that means this Sunday you are _mine_ and we’re hitting the mall.”

“Yay,” Neil said in a deadpan voice even though he could feel the temperature of the room slowly start to climb.

Allison flicked the fingers of her right hand at him as she sauntered past. “You, me, a dozen pair of skinny jeans and maybe even some leather pants. The world is about to become acquainted with that fine ass of yours, Josten, get used to it.”

“Fuck,” Neil swore as he rubbed his hands over his face, his fingers skipping over the healed slashes on his right cheek and the patch of grafted skin on his left. The sound of Allison’s laughter followed the fire elemental as she left, and he had to resist creating a cold spell to remove the warmth she’d created as a childish impulse to cast out all reminders of her presence.

He’d paid enough for it, after all.

Pushing all thoughts of Sunday out of his mind, he did his best to focus on his history essay and got a couple of paragraphs done before Andrew returned from his classes. “Josten, why did you let Reynolds in here?” Andrew asked as he wandered around the suite; Neil wasn’t surprised that Andrew had picked up on Allison’s presence in their dorm, not when he was so vigilant about the wards.

“Ah, she was helping me out with something,” Neil said as he set the essay aside to be completed after practice. He smiled at Andrew when his boyfriend entered the bedroom, handsome face set in the usual impassive mask yet hazel eyes gazing around for signs of any disturbance. “How was class?”

Andrew gave a slight shrug, his way of saying that the day’s classes had been boring and uneventful. He was dressed all in black, as usual, in jeans and a thick turtleneck sweater with a t-shirt beneath that, and probably intended to wrap a blanket around himself in an effort to remain warm until it was time for their afternoon practice. Yet he paused after taking a few steps into the bedroom and continued to look around, his pale brow creasing ever so slightly, thick blond eyebrows drawing together until there was a faint line between them, and turned his intent gaze on Neil.

“What did you do now?”

There was no use trying to hide things from Andrew and Neil refused to lie to him anymore. “I traded Allison something for a heat spell.”

The faint line deepened a little. “Traded her what?” To anyone else, Andrew would seem unaffected, but Neil could sense the sudden tension in his boyfriend – someone who never trusted people when it came to debts.

“A shopping trip.” He did his best to say the words without any reservations, and thought he mostly succeeded. As it were, he didn’t think they deserved the quiet huff from Andrew nor the rolled eyes. “On Sunday.”

“Halleluiah, it’s a miracle indeed,” Andrew mocked before he removed the sweater, which left his pale blond hair tousled and armbands exposed. “Neil Josten in possession of more than two new articles of clothes at the same time.”

Neil propped his chin up on his left hand. “Why aren’t I letting you freeze like the cold-hearted bastard you are?”

“Because there’s already one ice-cube in the room and that’s one too many,” Andrew shot back as he combed aside the bangs falling onto his blank face.

“Ah, I see.” Neil smiled at the sight of Andrew sitting down on the bed without four or more layers for once. “I take it you like it?”

Andrew shrugged once more, but the creases were gone from his brow along with the tension in his broad shoulders. “Well, if you hate it that much,” Neil teased as he turned around in his chair to better face his boyfriend, “I’ll ask Allison to break the spell.”

“The hell you will,” Andrew told him as he leaned back against the stack of pillows piled along the headboard of his bed. “I’m looking forward to seeing you dressed in something other than those rags you usually wear. Besides, if I want it broken, I’ll break it myself.”

As an ill wight, Andrew wasn’t very good at casting spells – he could create powerful wards and only the insane would risk angering him and having their lives ruined by the bad luck he could inflict upon them. Well, the bad luck he could inflict upon them _now_ that he knew what he was and had enough training to use his talent properly. But break spells? That he could with ease, yet another reason he was dubbed ‘the monster’ and feared.

Yet Neil had no problem rising from the chair at his desk and approaching the bed, hesitating only a moment until Andrew gave a slight nod to sit down next to his boyfriend. “I can’t believe you’re acting like this over a little cold. You better hope you’re not drafted onto a Northern team like the Chicago Marauders or the Portland Seafarers.”

“I refuse to go anywhere near let alone above the Mason-Dixon line,” Andrew declared as he straightened out the edge of his left armband; it was now warm enough in the room that he should be feeling comfortable in just his usual jeans and t-shirt attire and Neil began to ‘leech’ away some of the heat around him.

“The Bismarck Bulldogs are gonna love you,” Neil said in a sing-song tone of voice, and laughed when he was given the finger. “Well, you don’t have to worry for now, at least.”

“Maybe if you agree to let her do something with this ridiculous mop of yours, she’ll spell my coat for me.” Andrew reached out to run his fingers through Neil’s hair, which was falling onto his face as usual, but stopped at the crown of Neil’s head to give the strands a gentle tug.

“Hmm, maybe.” Yet every time Neil talked about getting a haircut, Andrew would tell him ‘about damn time’ and then change the topic, and it never happened so Neil suspected that the deal wouldn’t be made.

He sat there as Andrew gave his hair one more tug and fought not to smile when those warm, calloused fingers slid down to rest on the nape of his neck. “Yes or no?” Andrew’s voice was quiet in the alcove of the bunkbed but Neil could hear him, as focused as always on his boyfriend.

“Yes,” he breathed out, yet he waited for Andrew to make the first move, to see how far he wanted to take things in the short amount of time they had alone together. The smile did slip free when Andrew bridged the space between them for a kiss which possessed a bite of nicotine and impatience and passion.

Neil groaned as Andrew’s teeth teased at his bottom lip, as Andrew’s fingers tightened in his hair while his left hand slipped beneath Neil’s orange PSU hoodie. His own hands clutched at the soft comforter beneath him as the kiss deepened, as Andrew’s warm, solid body pressed against his, as a feather-light touch ran along the scars on his right side - the row of six leaf-shaped burns from his birthdays when his father began testing him to see if he’d inherited his mother’s talent. When Neil shivered and a faint moan slipped past his lips from the pleasure he felt, Andrew pulled away far enough so he could yank the hoodie off then tugged Neil down to lay sprawled on the bed.

While Neil grinned at him from his supine position, Andrew seemed to think of something for a moment then removed his t-shirt as well, which was a surprise; he hadn’t gone without wearing some layer of clothing at all in the past three weeks unless it was to change out or shower, due to the cold. Neil arched an eyebrow at that and received a flat look in return before Andrew leaned over him and grasped his right hand and brought it to his chest. “Above the waist.”

“Oh, you really like the gift, don’t you?” Neil murmured, and laughed when his hand was given a tight squeeze.

“I’m going to find a spell to render you mute, wait and see,” Andrew ‘threatened’, right before he kissed Neil quiet. Which, really, was the best way to keep Neil’s mouth occupied in his opinion, and half the reason he goaded Andrew on most times. Well, that and he couldn’t help himself. Whoever had started the myth about ice elementals being reserved and distant was a lying bastard – probably an ice elemental….

Neil gave up on such thoughts since Andrew seemed determined to render him unable to make any more smart remarks at the moment, to speak much of anything but his boyfriend’s name as Andrew’s hands and mouth brought out the only type of heat that Neil found tolerable, that his body would allow to build unchecked. His sweatpants and underwear quickly pulled down his legs and discarded, Neil let Andrew’s (only ever Andrew’s) hands wander over his skin until he was whining with need, his hips rocking up in search of desperately needed friction while Andrew’s mouth teased along his neck and collarbones. The bastard’s hands stroked along Neil’s abdomen and thighs, his knuckles brushed too damn lightly against Neil’s hard cock time and time again, and right when Neil was about to curse him out, Andrew pulled away to undo the zipper of his jeans.

“About damn time,” Neil muttered as he slid his hands down the front of Andrew’s chest to savor the firmness of the muscles beneath his palms while Andrew shoved his remaining clothes as far down his thighs as possible before settling between Neil’s legs once again.

“Mute spell,” Andrew warned even as he leaned in for a kiss and began to rock against Neil.

Too pleased to complain just then, Neil settled for a low groan and wrapped his arms back around Andrew’s shoulders as the heat, pleasure and desire resumed building inside of him with each grind of his boyfriend’s hips, each brush of lips and gentle scrape of teeth. He’d missed this the last couple of weeks – not so much the sex, which was wonderful as always, but Andrew allowing him close like this, trusting him like this, being able to open up like this.

Neil shuddered as the pleasure continued to build inside of him, an insidious heat taking over until he was numb with it, his body heavy and trembling from it, to the point that his nerves burnt out from the intensity of what Andrew made him feel in a blistering rush of bliss. Neil tucked his face against Andrew’s neck as he came, his lips brushing against taut skin as he murmured his boyfriend’s name and did his best not to hold on too tight as Andrew sought his own release. He could feel the faint sweat which coated Andrew’s skin beneath his fingers, could taste it on his tongue, could feel the way Andrew’s muscles began to relax as that solid weight slumped against him… at least for a minute or two.

Andrew’s panting breaths began to slow against Neil’s left temple as he allowed himself a rare moment of peace to collect himself, and all too soon he pulled himself away with a slight grimace. “Shower, now.”

Neil smiled at being included in that. “Okay.” He glanced at Andrew’s alarm clock and noticed that they still had some time before practice. “Did you eat anything between classes? Want to grab something on the way to the stadium?”

Andrew considered that as he shoved his clothes off the rest of the way before leaving the bed, while Neil used his hoodie to wipe himself clean – and didn’t sigh when Andrew grabbed it to do the same. “We can grab something,” Andrew said as he gathered their clothes to throw in the hamper, while Neil went to grab them something to wear for when they got out of the shower.

“Okay.” He had to smile at the slight frown which appeared on Andrew’s face as soon as they stepped out of the bedroom; there was a marked difference in temperature once they left the charmed room. “Yeah, it’s really noticeable, isn’t it?”

He was given a blank look for that comment. “Surely Reynolds wants something else,” was all Andrew said before stalking off to the bathroom, where he was certain to turn the hot water on all of the way. Neil rubbed at his neck as he thought about that and sighed.

“Yeah, and _I’d_ be the one paying for it, dammit,” he shouted, mind already returning to the thought about what he’d be forced to wear on Sunday.

It wasn’t that Neil expected life to be fair – he _never_ expected life to be fair – but seriously? The _one_ person he’d fallen for, that he’d probably ever fall for, had to have something against the cold? Neil had already resigned himself to five years in South Carolina for Andrew (and Exy, a small voice reminded himself), now he was bartering himself for heat spells (don’t think about the skinny jeans) and probably was going to end up living in a place that didn’t ever see snow.

Then he entered the bathroom to find Andrew waiting for him in the shower and was pulled into a breathtaking kiss and got his hair washed before being pushed aside in favor of Andrew hogging up all of the hot water, and Neil decided that maybe living someplace where it was summer for eight months of the year wouldn’t be too bad, all things considered.

He still wasn’t happy about the skinny jeans, though.

*******

 

**Author's Note:**

> *******  
> I really hope that was okay.
> 
> Just a note - ice elementals aren't susceptible to heat/burns once they come into their power (I told you I spent too much time thinking about this stuff), so changed the one scar on Neil. It's a skin graft where his tattoo used to be. And I have way too much head canon about Andrew being a ill wight and him and Aaron.
> 
> As always, the comments and kudos are greatly appreciated!  
> *******


End file.
